PRINCETON, NJ -- Despite the recent drop in the U.S. fertility rate, Americans' attitudes about having children have remained unchanged over the past 23 years. More than nine in 10 adults say they already have children, are planning to have children, or wish that they had had children.
Phylum. Starfish belong to the phylum Echinodermata, which is the largest phylum without any members that live on land or in fresh water. Echinoderms have five-point radial symmetry as adults, but are bilaterally symmetrical as larvae. They have an endoskeleton consisting of calcareous plates that often include spines.upiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images. Although fish and starfish both belong to the kingdom Animalia -- which is the largest division of taxonomic classification -- starfish lack a spine, and therefore belong to a different phylum than true fish.
Sea stars or starfish are marine invertebrates belonging to Kingdom Animalia and phylum Echinodermata, class Asteroidea. The names sea star and starfish are also used for the closely related brittle stars, which make up the class Ophiuroidea. They exhibit a superficially radial symmetry. Starfish typically have five or more arms which radiate from an indistinct disk (pentaradial symmetry). In fact, their evolutionary ancestors are believed to have had bilateral symmetry, and sea stars do exhibit some superficial remnant of this body structure.